Concerns arise over limited Canadian hydropower as U.S. pursues transmission lines

So the Maine legislators who worry about new dams needing to be built - let me guess, they don't worry about new wind projects I'll bet. Follow the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Some New England lawmakers, including in Maine, are questioning the wisdom of plans to construct new transmission lines across their states, despite Hydro-Québec's insistence it can still meet its energy obligations.

BY SUSAN HAIGH AND WILSON RING ASSOCIATED PRESS

EXCERPTS:

HARTFORD, Conn. — Policymakers seeking to make the U.S. electric grid less reliant on fossil fuels have long looked north to Canada and its abundant surplus of hydropower, advocating for new transmission lines to bring more of that cheap, clean electricity south.

But with demand for green energy growing north of the border, too, there are new concerns that Canada’s hydro supply isn’t as bottomless as it once seemed.

A study published in May by the Montreal Economic Institute predicted that Quebec, now home to one of the world’s largest hydroelectric systems, will over the next decade fall short of the generating capacity needed to meet increasing demand for power in the province.

Some New England lawmakers are questioning the wisdom of plans to construct new transmission lines across their states, despite Canadian energy giant Hydro-Québec’s insistence it can still meet its energy obligations.

“They have their own energy needs,” Maine state Sen. Nicole Grohoski said of the Canadians. The Democrat said it is “overly optimistic” for policymakers to rely on Canadian hydropower. “There are industrial users up there that are already having issues and they’re not interested in investing in Quebec because they’re worried about power supply.”

Over decades, Hydro-Québec, which is owned by the Province of Quebec, has built a series of hydro-electric facilities, most in the northern reaches of the province. The dams’ construction and the subsequent flooding of areas behind them has drawn protests from indigenous groups and environmentalists on both sides of the border.

But in the process Hydro-Québec has become the largest producer of renewable energy in North America. It produces nearly half of all Canadian hydropower as well as a smaller number of wind and other renewable projects.

The capacity to generate electricity left the utility with extra power to sell in the energy-hungry U.S. There are already a number of transmission lines that carry power from Canada to the United States and more on the drawing board.

A line from the border down Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to New York City is under construction. Authorities in Maine just gave approval to resume construction of a separate line from the border to Massachusetts.


There are also pending proposals for lines to reach southern New England through Vermont and New Hampshire..................

....................A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Maine who oppose the proposed 145-mile New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line recently asked the governor of Massachusetts to review whether Hydro-Québec can still meet its energy obligations.

They also sent a letter to Quebec Premier François Legault questioning whether there will be enough electricity to power both that line and the Champlain-Hudson Power Express line, which is currently under construction. That line is intended to provide New York City with 20% of its power needs.

The Maine lawmakers said they worry new dams might need to be built, a process that could take years.

“Many people in New England have lived with a myth that Quebec has so much power that it doesn’t know what to do with it all,” the legislators said in a joint statement.

Local news has reported Jean-Hugues Lafleur, Hydro-Québec’s financial officer, said during an analyst call last month that the company could meet the energy demand when it signed the contract in 2018 and that “we still have enough energy to supply the New England region.”

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said hydropower is just one piece of the puzzle and that the New England states are also working together to decarbonize the electric system through other means, including offshore wind.

Hydro-Québec, meanwhile, has also expressed interest in transmission lines capable of moving power in both directions. Developers of the proposed 1,000-megawatt transmission line known as New England Clean Power Link, which would run from Quebec to southern New England through Vermont, are working to modify its approval to turn it into a bi-directional line.

“This modification would allow the line to be used as originally intended to move hydropower from Canada to New England, while also allowing the line to move loads such as off-shore wind generation from New England to Canada for storage and later use, which could materially help winter reliability in the region,” said June Tierney, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service.

Last month, the state of New Hampshire highlighted a new entrant into the northeast transmission mix by announcing plans for a 211-mile, 1,200-megawatt power line that would enter the United States at Canaan, Vermont, and follow a buried route south. If built, the $2 billion proposal would also be a bi-directional line.

“This project is also not dependent solely on hydropower – it would have the ability to deliver other forms of clean energy being generated in Canada – such as wind and solar power – to New England,” said a statement from the utility National Grid, which is proposing the line.

Kerrick Johnson, chief innovation and communication officer for the Vermont Electric Power Cooperative, which manages the state’s electric transmission system, said there’s a transformation underway of the electric production and distribution system across the world and including the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/06/07/concerns-arise-over-limited-...

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Comment by Willem Post on June 9, 2023 at 10:46am

Germany and Denmark have had high capacity, two-way, DCHV transmission lines for decades, because during rare strong wind events too much electricity is produced by Germany and Denmark.

That extra electricity increases the voltage on the grids, but Norway, by running less water through its hydro plants, UNDER produces electricity and thus, almost immediately reduces that voltage increase.


NORWAY HYDRO PLANTS USE LESS WATER, THE WATER STAYS IN RESERVOIRS

NO ELECTRICITY IS STORED

During the many low wind events, Norway OVER produces electricity, which increases grid voltage, but demand in Denmark and Germany almost immediately reduces that voltage increase.

This is the explanation by an energy systems analyst. Just ignore what is stated in the article

Comment by Dan McKay on June 9, 2023 at 5:28am

As long as Maine remains in the ISO-NE network and RGGI, the electric generation picture for Maine will slant towards natural gas as other New England states focus on reducing GHG emissions.

This, while Maine lawmakers force Maine people to buy power from out of state companies building wind and solar projects in Maine.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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